We couldn’t be more chuffed that the uber busy, ultra productive, highly-sought after Benja Harney from Paperform stopped by for the latest in our YOU-ZU interview series. Benja’s works are nothing short of awe-inspiring. A self-taught paper engineer based in Sydney, Benja must surely be in contention for ‘Busiest Man on the Planet’ this year as his wonderful creations are being commissioned by everyone from Hermes, Harper’s Bazaar, MAC Cosmetics, Parklife and so many-many more!

Be immersed in the fantastic world of Benja Harney… visit his PAPERFORM site right away!

Recently having exhibited his unique works as part of the New Britain Museum of American Art ‘s “Meticulous Masterpieces” show, Ghetti has drawn a huge following around the world for his collection of priceless minute carvings, hewn only from pre-loved pencils.

Contending with the unpredictable properties of pencil graphite at a scale that would send most people blind with concentration, these one-of-a-kind gems are quaint, many instilled with a buoyant humor and all quite moving.

Here is one for those lucky enough to reside in or visit Sydney in October.

Dubbed the “Living City”, Sydney this week takes it’s title one step further with the launch of the 2010 Art & About a vibrant celebration of public art, an accessible, living canvas.

Breaking out of the galleries and shrugging off the confines of traditional exhibition spaces, the month long event run by the City of Sydney infiltrates the CBD’s parks, malls and laneways to bring the wondrous world of art and all things creative directly to the people. The annual cultural festival, now in it’s ninth year, draws huge public attendance figures, not least because it is 100% free!

With each year that goes by the installations and displays continue to titillate, inspire and provoke. Some of this years highlights include:

ArtPark is a new event that will activate Hyde Park for three days with an exciting program of music, performance art, film screenings on a large screen and panel talks by Sydney leading public artists.

Banner Gallery will display images of 100 Sydneysiders on giant street banners throughout all main CBD corridors as well as Oxford Street, Glebe Point Road and Redfern Street over the festival period. The Exhibition has been curated by John Kaldor with photography by Louise Hawson renowned for her beautiful 52 Suburbs series.

Sydney Life, the iconic centrepiece of Art & About Sydney, is a free outdoor exhibition of photographic works blown up to bed sheet size and displayed along the grand central walkway of Hyde Park North.

The Bike Bike is a large-scale sculpture that will use pre-loved bicycles to create a giant penny farthing in the heart of Martin Place. Standing up to 12 metres in height

Sydney Statues is an innovative installation aimed at reinterpreting eight of Sydney’s best-loved statues for a contemporary audience.

The Lord Mayor Clover Moore invites all who are in Sydney tomorrow to attend the official launch in Hyde Park North with the unveiling of the Sydney Life works and a live performance by Sydney group: Dappled Cities.

It’s an exciting month, and I look forward to seeing you out and about on the streets of Sydney as we celebrate our City’s creativity

We’ve long been avid followers of Dana Hughes’ YELLOWTRACE blog and would recommend you check in there frequently!

In case you haven’t already had the pleasure, you’ll have missed out on this great post from her regular feature: “Design Free Thursday”, where the sometimes wacky and the random are hand selected and shared by Dana. This spotlight on Kristin and Kayla Lee is a great way to start the week smiling.

Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan pretty much takes the crown where design and furniture trade fairs are concerned. Whether it’s your favourite or the most groundbreaking is of course open to much discussion, however, it is undeniably one of the biggest events on the annual design calendar in so far as global pull and breadth of output. That said, it is not without it’s rivals.

So what else is out there to get those creative, inspirational juices pumping? Were does a wandering design hungry creative go to whet one’s insatiable appetite? Europe! (…of course!)

Sure there is always New York for the ICFF in May and we know that the baby of the bunch: Design Miami, has been turning heads for the past five years, new showcase: The Ki highlighting smart living through sustainable design in San Francisco is even garnering plenty of attention with the likes of Kenneth Cobonpue in attendance, but really, if you want the best-of-the-best in one room at one time, if you want aesthetic, sensory (and walking) overload… Europe’s fairs are the fairest of them all.

Salone Mobilé Milan is by and large the first European fair off the starter line in April, but in late September the Spaniards throw the gates open on Hábitat Valencia. True-to-form: their unique, and quintessentially Spanish, avant-garde approach to design which differentiates them from greater Europe, is on show for all to absorb and be swept up in.

Hábitat 2010 welcomes it’s guests from September 28 and now boasts over 800 exhibitors, 60,000 visitors from more than 100 countries and 125,000 square metres of space given over to exhibits.

Not to be outdone, just last week the Parisians made the most of their receding Summer and turned on the charm as only the French can. France’s Maison et Objet 2010 drew a huge, well dressed, turn out and most notably celebrated the works of Jaime Hayón in “Moving Ideas” an exhibition of Jaime… by Jaime.

Across The Channel (not to be mistaken for Chanel), the Brits are shrugging off the stuffy image to stage what they propose to be nothing less than: 100% Design London. A highlight on the program is the 100% Futures exhibit showcasing the UK’s emerging design across interiors, architecture and furniture.

Last but not least… and perhaps fittingly: The Sleep Event in the UK in November is:

the only event in Europe that focuses entirely on the design, architecture and development of hotels, encompassing a design-led exhibition, high-level conference and awards ceremony.

Exhausting and exhilirating all at once, the sleek lacquered surface of the European Design Calendar isn’t even part way scratched in this brief post. To try and cover the length and breadth of it in person all in one year would still leave a design addict wrung out and overstimulated… that’s not to say we wouldn’t be up for the challenge!

Recent times have seen a bold move by fashion and lifestyle brands into the already bustling hospitality market.

Opening boutique, cutting edge hotels across Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East are a swag of the biggest names: from Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Bulgari and most recently: the launch of the Armani Hotel in Dubai with it’s little sister due to open in Milan later this year.

From a design perspective, The PANTONE HOTELTM, Brussels is built on an exceptional use of contrast; a white canvas provides clean space for saturated colors to pop. Welcome to the center of the color universe.

Designed by Michel Penneman and Oliver Hannaert, the whole venture screams fun and frovility, especially the playful Do-Lo-Rez rug in the foyer from nanimarquina and Ron Arad, with the matching sofa perched above it, from Moroso.

With over a third of their year under cloud cover and rain, this might be just the place to colour your next stay in historic Brussels.

Winners are grinners and we’d like to extend our congratulations to some of the biggest names in Sydney’s Culinary Community and acknowledge those new comers who have earned themselves a coveted “HAT” in the Herald’s annual dining review and awards. Check out some pictures from the awards night here.

The team at the stunning Manly Pavilion, which opened to much acclaim in March of this year, have taken out the prize for Best New Restaurant in this years Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards. An unrivalled marriage of location, service, design and dining options saw the heritage waterfront venue draw the winning votes in a hotly contested category. Click here to watch the Herald’s interview with chefs James Parry and John Barthelmess. The video beautifully captures the uninterrupted views across the water, complimented by the striking selection of Round, Ivy and Heaven pieces from Italy’s EMU collection and the attention to detail given to the unique project by Squillace Nicholas Architects.

Over in the CBD where the business lunch is king and the high-powered clientele: discerning, it is no surprise to us that the wonderful Martin Benn of Sepia took out the award for Emirates Chef of The Year. KE-ZU had the pleasure of working with Martin, Vicki Wild and the team at SJB in furnishing the “…gentleman’s-club-meets-brasserie…” atmosphere of the Sussex Street eatery with beautiful wicker and leather detailed Manila Chairs from Spain’s Andreu World.

Heading down to The Rocks now, where the wildly successful Sake Restaurant and Bar, in the Argyle precinct has been awarded a SMH Chefs Hat in its first twelve months of operation – No small feat! Luchetti Krelle crafted for the owners a space that brings toegther some of Australia’s most significant historical architecture with a contemporary Japanese setting populated with Smile stools and chairs from Andreu World and timber Mikado pendant lights from LZF. A triumph in taste and style, which obviously met with the Sydney Morning Herald‘s approval!

Perennial favourite, ARIA scored two hats again, we like to think the Noosa, Anna and Lucrecia chairs from Andreu World went some of the way to contributing to a faultless dining experience overlooking some of Sydney’s greatest landmarks.

Congratulations to all! Talking about all these eateries is enough to make you hungry… see you at the bar!

HASSELL ARE ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST DESIGN PRACTICES, COVERING ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND MORE… WE SPOKE TO THE EVER-BUBBLY, ALWAYS BUSY, JOEL SAMPSON OF THE INTERIORS TEAM, WHO HAS RECENTLY BEEN HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE HUGE REFURBISHMENT OF THE SHANGRI-LA, SYDNEY AND ASSORTED NOVOTEL LOCATIONS.

TO GET A GRASP ON THE EXTENT OF HASSELL’S EXPERTISE IN ALL IT’S FIELDS OF PRACTICE CLICK YOUR WAY TO HASSELL.COM.AU

True to their name, the gang over at HIVE have been hard at work. Not only have they been finalising a swag of new product lines and introducing a plethora of brilliant outdoor models for their existing peices, but they have even found the time to rebrand!

A slick new logo and a punchy new website (with a new address : www.designbyhive.com) have resulted from their Cebu based working bee. We’ll be heading back to Cebu in March to gather all the latest from HIVE and KENNETH COBONPUE, so we’ll be sure to keep you up to speed with even more developments that are sure to crystallize over Christmas!